A Tale of Seven and a Pizza
by azscarecrow
Summary: The next story in my series. Story is complete.
1. Default Chapter

fn

Scarecrow and Mrs. King – A Tale of Seven and a Pizza

This is the next story in my series! I retain the rights to the series and their ideas, Eric, Adam and Jennie, however everyone else is not mine. I'm just borrowing them.

The other stories in the series are:

Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever

The First Time, For the Stetsons' 

A Familiar Dance

Hush Little Baby

Total Comfort

Sorry, I forgot two when I listed it in Total Comfort. I hope you continue to enjoy my series, I'm releasing them sporadically, some of them I already have written others I have yet to write, and others are just bits and pieces. Either way, I'm glad you're reading them, and I hope they make you smile. Thanks.

A minivan. Lee thought it over once again. They'd owned the minivan for a little over 17 months now, and he still couldn't believe it. Lee Stetson drove a minivan. Sometimes he spent more timing contemplating the van than others, and now was one of those times. Jamie sat in the back seat of the minivan playing his Gameboy®, Adam was strapped securely in his car seat directly in front of Jamie. 

No doubt Philip was still in the bathroom combing his hair for the eighth time or applying another pint of cologne. Amanda was probably fussing with Jennie's hair, trying to force the tiny strands of golden hair atop their 14 month-old-daughters head to hold the plastic barrettes Amanda insisted she wear. Eric was indisputably running about the kitchen still in search of his army men. Why did it seem that the running time for a trip to Pete's Pizza grew longer every week they went? 

"Jamie, I'm going to go see what's holding your mother. Watch after Adam for me, will you?" Lee asked as he finally decided to step out of the van. Glancing at the back seat he saw Jamie's faint nod and figured that'd be the best he could hope fore. 

"Amanda!" Lee shouted up the stairs when he walked into the house. "What's taking so long?" 

"I can't get the barrettes to stay in Jennie's hair! They keep sliding out!" Amanda shouted from upstairs. 

"She's too little for them, get Philip and let's go!" Lee replied in a shout back. He then turned into the kitchen, and there was Eric's behind, sticking out from inside the cupboard. Pots and pan were strewn about the kitchen. 

"Eric." Lee warned in a singsong voice.

"Uh oh." Came a low reply. Eric quickly crawled out from beneath the cupboard. 

"What were you doing under there?" Lee asked him.

"I was looking for the army men, Dad, I know I left them in here!" Eric stood and pulled the bottom of his shirt down. 

"Do you see the mess you made?" Lee questioned him. Eric merely nodded. 

"Go to the car, when we get back from pizza you can clean it up." Lee stretched his arm and grabbed hold of Eric's shoulder, then lead him out of the kitchen. 

When Eric reached the door he turned back to his father to see him walking up the stairs. "Daddy, can I bring a book?" Eric asked. 

"Pudding Pie is still in the car, you can ask Philip if he'll read it to you on the way." Lee told him with a smile. Eric nodded and went out to the car. 

"Amanda!" Lee said once he got upstairs. 

"I'm in Jennie's room." She answered to him. Lee didn't doubt that. They traded weeks for dressing the twins and making sure they'd made it to the car on time with their twin, Amanda always went over board when it was her week for Jennie. Lee slowly walked to his daughter's room. 

When they'd first decorated the room he thought he'd have nightmares if he spent too much time in there. It was painted pale pink with kitties and teddy bears in pastel colors scattered about the room. It didn't really have more stuffed animals than they'd given to either of the boys; it just had different colored stuffed animals. Lord knew the little girl didn't need another pink elephant. The crib was white, instead of the oak colored one they'd used for the boys, the furniture was white. It was too girly for his original tastes. But then, after the countless nights spent rocking his daughter to sleep on the white rocking chair, and surrounded by the girly colors, he'd learned to appreciate the room. How the room was decorated didn't seem to matter half as much as the angel it was decorated for. 

"Should I put her in the pink dress, or the blue dress for pizza?" Amanda asked holding them up. She hated dressing her little girl in the few pairs of shorts that she did actually have. Lee hadn't guessed what Amanda would be like having a little girl after four little boys, but he should have. Jennie was treated nothing like the boys. It wasn't that Jennie was treated better, and that she loved the boys any less, because her love for all four boys was very much so apparent, but Jennie was her little girl. 

"It's pizza, put her in the overalls." Lee told her as he reached into the dresser drawer and pulled the overalls out.

"She looks like a hobo in overalls." Amanda said as she began to pull the pink cotton dress decked out in lace and falling white flowers, over her head. 

"Adam and Eric are both wearing overalls." Lee replied.

"Adam and Eric are boys." Amanda countered. 

"Amanda, you don't have to put her in a dress all of the time." Lee pleaded.

"No, I don't, but I want to." Amanda snapped the three snaps on the back of the dress and then laid Jennie down to put the panties on over top of her diaper. Once Jennie was dressed Amanda lifted her into her arms and began to leave the room. Lee shook his head and followed her. "Are all of the boys at the car?" Amanda asked as she began descending the stairs.

"No, I'll go get Philip." Lee turned back around to get Philip. "I'll be down in a sec." He told Amanda as he headed toward Philip's room. 

Philip stood in his bathroom that was located in the corner of his room, admiring his face. He turned to face Lee. "Do I look okay?" He asked.

"You're eighteen, and we're going for pizza, you look fine, let's go!" Lee motioned out the door. 

"What's the rush?" Philip complained as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. "I just want to look my best, you never know when a hot girl will be lurking around the corner." 

"Trust me, you don't want to go out with any hot girl that's lurking." Lee said as he followed Philip down the stairs. 

"If she's that hot, I don't care if she's lurking." Philip opened the front door and began to walk out. "Hot girls can do whatever they please, as long as they're doing it to _me_."

"Good Lord." Lee sighed as he stepped into the van. Amanda had Jennie strapped in her car seat both twins were happily playing with their toys. Eric was already beginning to annoy Jamie, and Philip had just said no to Eric's request that he be read to. They were just leaving the driveway. Pete's Pizza was only a ten-minute drive, yet somehow, Lee knew it'd be the longest ten minutes of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

fbnd

"The little boy began walking down the street, what was he to do? The baker had no more yellow pudding pie, and he'd promised it to mother…" Philip continued reading. Eric had been conniving and talked Philip into reading him the book only seconds into their journey. 

"I think it's a cute story." Amanda whispered to Lee. 

"What is?" He asked her with a quick glance to the beautiful woman on his right. 

"Yellow Pudding Pie." Amanda answered reaching for Lee's free hand. 

"It's a fine story if you're under the age of five." Lee told her, bringing the hand she'd placed in his up to his lips for a kiss.

"He wants to tell his mother that he loves her with Yellow Pudding Pie." Amanda spoke softly to herself.

"I know. I've read it thousands of times." Lee looked over to her. 

"I was just thinking to myself. Why do you suppose they call it Yellow Pudding Pie, and not something else." 

"I think it's vanilla pudding." 

"Maybe it's banana." Amanda lay back in her seat, completely relaxed, surprised at how well the twins were behaving for the moment. 

"I could take the book into the agency and have them analyze it if you'd like." Lee teased.

"Very funny." Amanda playfully slapped Lee's shoulder then reached back down for his hand. Life didn't get much better than this. 

"Uh, Amanda." Lee's voice was filled with concern when he spoke a few minutes later.

"Hm?" Amanda flitted her eyes open and turned to face Lee. 

"Look in the side view mirror." Lee paused as she did so. "Do you see the black Mercedes two cars back?" 

Suddenly, Amanda knew why he was telling her this. She asked, "How long have they been there?" 

"Ever since we were about two blocks from the house." Lee told her. 

"What are we going to do?" Amanda asked him.

"First, we are going to try and make sure that the kids don't become suspicious. Then, I'm going to lose them without all kinds of fancy moves." Lee told her looking once more in the rear view mirror, but this time, he didn't look at the black Mercedes, instead he looked at his five children, _God, please keep them safe._

Lee pressed a little harder on the accelerator and changed lanes. Passing a few cars got him a little bit further ahead, and he made a left. No doubt the Mercedes would follow him down this road as well, but by the time they made the turn Lee was hoping to be sitting in the parking lot of that sporting goods store about half a block down. 

"Who do you think it is?" Amanda's curiosity got the best of her. 

"I don't know. I don't even know anyone that would be driving a Mercedes." Lee turned into the sporting goods store, and parked the van. Then he sat and waited, watching for the Mercedes to drive by. 

"Hey, this isn't Pete's Pizza." Jamie said as he looked out of the windows.

"I know that." Lee told him still watching for the car. 

"Then why are we here?" Philip asked him as he took a break from finishing the story. 

"Finish Philip!" Eric pleaded. 

"Lee." Amanda said in a warning tone as the black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot. 

"I know!" Lee put the van in reverse and turned around to leave the parking lot. He didn't need to be backed into a corner.

"Is that…." Philip started, but Lee quickly cut him off.

"Yes, Philip, now read the book to Eric." Lee instructed him as he tried to keep his anger under control. 

Philip began to read the book once more, occasionally turning around to look at the car. Once he finished he closed the book and handed it to Eric to look at the pictures. "Lee, who is that?" Philip questioned. 

"Don't worry about it." Lee really didn't need both the teenagers questioning him, because sooner or later it would strike Eric's curiosity. 

"Come on!" Philip said.

"Philip, I'm serious, read the book to Eric again or just sit back and relax, I'm trying to handle the situation and the last thing I need is worry warts." 

"Fine." Philip settled back in his seat and crossed his arms in defiance. 

"Fine!" Eric repeated copying Philip's stance. The book on Eric's lap soon became annoying and Eric threw it forward, crashing into the back of Jennie's car seat. 

With a loud wail Jennie began to cry. Amanda turned back to care for her daughter, trying to comfort the crying child. Amanda lifted a fallen toy from the floor and began to wave it in front of Jennie simultaneously talking to her in a calming voice. 

"Lee, how much longer are we going to be on the road?" Amanda asked through clenched teeth. 

"How ever long it takes for me to lose these people." 

Adam, not wanting to be left alone, began to cry in accompaniment with his sister. Amanda groaned and let her head fall to the floor before looking back up to check on Adam and Jennie. The twins' faces were bright red, with tears streaming down their chubby cheeks.Adam's brown eyes were already turning a black color, and the whites of his eyes were red, fortunately, Jennie cried more gracefully, her green eyes barely disrupted. Adam lifted his tiny hand and wiped it across his face, and then lifting it into his hair, he was tired; Adam's telltale sign of being sleepy was when he played with his hair. 

Jamie leaned forward in his seat and stuck his head between the two car seats, studying his siblings closely before knowing how to take care of them. Soothingly, he began to speak to them about flying, and bugs, and other nonsensical subjects that would quiet them. Sighing Amanda fell back into her seat. She'd never had much trouble taking care of any of the boys in the back seat when they'd been the twins' age, but Jennie and Adam were a different story. Even with them, it wasn't that she had trouble; it was that lately it took her longer to settle them down. 

Being thirty-eight-years-old when she'd had them had probably played some small role in that.At least she wasn't going to have any more. She loved children, but five was plenty, and she was too old to go through that process any more. Besides, she had her baby girl, every one of her children was special, but Jennie was her girl. A daughter. She'd always dreamed of having a daughter, a little girl, ever since she'd been no more than a little girl herself. 

And once again her family was going through a small little glitch in the day that was routine when your husband worked for the Agency. Lee would handle it. She had to remind herself of that. In minutes they would lose the Mercedes, and he would be back en route to Pete's Pizza. Tomorrow he would file a report, and by-gones would be by-gones. Maybe.


	3. Chapter 3

Gmdf

"Mommy, hungry." Jennie complained as Lee began to try yet another tactic to lose the Mercedes that now followed closer than ever. Whomever drove that car had been well trained in following, and Lee knew instinctively, that in a few seconds, the car would pull back a little, and make Lee wonder if the car was still there, Lee wouldn't question it. 

"We're almost there sweetheart, just wait a few more seconds." Amanda smiled back at her children then turned around to stare absently out of the window. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute, and until the Mercedes had receded and given up, she had a feeling her heart rate could only speed up. 

"I'm hungry too." Eric whined as he pulled a few toy army men out of his pocket and began to line them up on the armrest and begin a battle. 

"Hungry." Adam joined the crowd as he continued kicking the car seat to a beat that lived in his head. The twins' cries had subsided nearly eight minutes ago, and if it hadn't been for this Mercedes they'd have been enjoying their pizza by now. 

Lee tried as hard as he possibly could to ignore the six people he loved that accompanied him on this trip. It wouldn't do him any good to go panicking that his family was in danger. He was thankful that Philip and Jamie hadn't been staring at the car, or even looking for it, they'd obviously given up hope of trying to help. Definitely become to accustomed to this terror that Lee was putting his family through. He could only regret that. 

Still he loved his job. And only in times like this did he think of settling for a more normal job. He loved serving his country, and he loved the feeling when he locked one more potential threat up in prison. He was doing his country well and that was in indescribable feeling. But was the feeling worth what he was doing to his family. 

Yes. He and Amanda kept all of their children safe, and only in rare instances, such as this one, were they at risk. Amanda loved him, and God did he love her. They were strong, and they still handled everything together. They always would. 

Lee began to get into the right hand lane, preparing to turn right. He didn't know how long it would take to lose them if he kept going in funny shapes through Washington, but he hoped it wouldn't be much longer. 

"Left." Amanda said off-handedly. It was his faith in her that had him turning left. "Look, right there, see, this is the Tower Complex, and with these three parking lots right in a row, it'll be harder for him to find you." Lee followed her thinking, and couldn't have been more impressed. "Take the second one, it wraps around and it'll put you right back on Lincoln." 

Lee smiled, thought for a moment and let out a little chuckle. "You're amazing." Lee followed the road as it wrapped around the first parking lot, just like Amanda had said, and lead him back to Lincoln. He was now on the road that he'd just turned from, with the Mercedes left to wonder at which parking lot it was he'd gone into, and where he'd gone from the parking lot. Lee drove down Lincoln a while to make certain the Mercedes hadn't picked up on it then kissed his wife's hand. A hand which he hadn't let go of for the whole trip. 

"I love you." He said finally as he knew they were out of danger. 

"The feelings mutual." Amanda smiled at him as they pulled into Pete's Pizza. 

Lee parked the car, and ran around front to open the door for his wife, he pulled her out and into his arms. "I mean it you know." He whispered staring into her eyes.

"I know. I mean it too." Amanda agreed and kissed him lightly on the lips. She pulled back reluctantly. "How about some pizza before we completely embarrass Philip and Jamie." 

"Sounds good." Lee kept his arms wrapped around Amanda as he opened the side door and Eric jumped out. "Take Philip's hand." Lee told Eric as Philip climbed out, Jamie close behind. 

"Way to go you two." Jamie said as he started across the parking lot. 

Lee climbed into the van and unlatched Jennie from her car seat, then handed his beautiful daughter to his wife. "And you too little man." Lee said as he did the same for Adam. Adam giggled as Lee stood him on the ground and took hold of his tiny hand. Walking slowly so that Adam was able to waddle at his own pace they walked into the pizza place, and they were happy, and together, and that was what was important. 


End file.
